For the purposes of International Public Correspondence Telecommunication, the ship station identity is now only relevant for those existing systems that have the ship station identity embedded in the numbering scheme as illustrated in Annexes A and B. For future systems that will not embed the ship station identity in their numbering scheme the ship station identity ceases to have any relevance for public correspondence telecommunication purposes.
This revision of E.217 includes relevant text from E.210 as it combines both of those Recommendations into E.217. In addition it reflects changes that have occurred within the existing family of services provided by Inmarsat that impact the provision of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS).
For historical accuracy this revised version also reflects details of the provision of Inmarsat services prior to the expansion of the E.164 numbering plan (ITU-T Recommendation E.164 'The international public telecommunication numbering plan') from a maximum of 12 to 15 digits.